How are young Irish people engaging with journalism?

Irish 18-24s are among the most tech savvy and digitally immersed in Ireland and globally. This generation is digitally native and has a dizzying volume and variety of news at their fingertips. So how are they engaging with news media and what do they think about Irish journalism?

In this year’s report, we want to
explore the habits and attitudes of younger news consumers. Young Irish people
are heavily embedded in digital media, but what is their engagement with
digital news? Among 18-24’s, the main
sources of news are mostly digital (71%). They are the most likely to find news
via a smartphone (74%). And, unsurprisingly, they the least likely to use
traditional sources such as TV as a main source (18%) or radio (6%).

In some areas the disparity with
older age groups regarding where and how young people get their news is
substantial. In terms of relying on TV, they are much the same as all under
35’s, both 18 per cent. However, 51 per
cent of over 55’s use TV is their main source and 16 per cent use radio. And
smartphones are the primary device for 38 per cent of over 55’s.

There has been some hope
regarding younger people paying for news. It is sometimes used as a signal of
potential stability in future online revenues. Some 14 per cent of younger
consumers paid for news last year. However, five years ago, only 5 per cent of
18-24’s paid for news, and 10 per cent of 25-34’s. That is an increase of 6 per
cent among 18-24’s and an increase of 9 per cent among 25-34’s. Although it
must be recognised that among 18-24’s, 24 per cent pay an ongoing subscription,
but for 37 per cent another person pays.

In line with the US, UK and the
EU, older age groups are far more interested in both news and politics. Irish
18-25 year olds are among the least interested in news with 45 per cent very or
extremely interested, compared to 59 per cent in the UK. And they are even less interested in
politics, 26 per cent in Ireland, compared to 48 per cent in the UK and 40% in
the USA. Although Ireland has had an intensive political period with
referendums, presidential elections and Brexit, such differences could be
attributed to the more tumultuous internal political environments in both the
UK and US.

The survey shows that most people
in Ireland are centrist and there does not appear to be a large degree of
polarisation. And this is true of younger age groups, 72 per cent of whom are
centrist with 18 per cent identifying as left and 10 per cent as right.
Comparing the same age groups in the UK,
25 per cent identify as left while 12 per cent identified as right and
in the US it is 33 per cent left and 14 per cent right.

This age group are among the
wariest digital news consumers. That is, 18-24’s most likely to be concerned
about fake news with 69 per cent stating they were concerned about what was
real and fake on the internet. They are
among the least trusting of the age groups of new via search engines (40%) and social media (56%) and least trusting of
news overall (36%).

However, this can also be
interpreted as a degree of savviness when it comes to questioning the quality
of what they see online. 18-24’s are the most likely to take some form of
action regarding what they see online (89%). Among their responses are talking
to friends (35%) or relying on more reputable sources (37%), but they were most
likely to check multiple sources to verify information (44%).

The survey also offers some
insight into young people’s social values. They were the least likely to agree
with the idea that immigration is a threat to national culture (27% agree)
compared to an average of 38 per cent among older age groups. And they were
among the most trusting of politicians being among the least likely to disagree
with the idea politicians don’t care what they think (50%) compared to an
average of 68 per cent among older age groups.

But what do they think of news
content? In terms of tone, 40 per cent of under 34’s find news too negative
compared to 31 per cent of over 54’s. The largest generational gap is in how
news media is valued for the immediacy of news, with 63 per cent of 18-24’s
finding it keeps them up to date compared to 76 per cent of over 55’s. This can
in part be explained by the higher number of younger people using social media
for news. For content, under 35’s are the most likely to say the news topics are
not relevant, 24 per cent of 18-25’s and 35 per cent of 24-35s.

We should be cautious of assuming
the patterns among younger age groups will be the habits adopted for life. As
our lives change, our access and need for different media can change. Higher disposable
income among older age groups means better phones, more gadgets and greater
resources to afford both TVs and licences. Similarly, how and why we engage with news evolves as
our lives enter new phases, and we take on new responsibilities and interests.
Just because fewer younger people use the TV for news or choose this brand over
that, it does not necessarily mean they always will.

Younger
people, much like everyone else, are getting more news than previous
generations have ever have been exposed to. Recent shifts in Irish society have
been in part shaped by increased engagement from younger people. It is an old
cliché that young people are ignorant of news or politics. Although the
engagement is lower than older generations, there is still a substantial
percentage interested in it and accessing it daily, and want to see more topics
that relate to their lives. Future participation depends on their adaptation of
evolving technologies as well as how the news media cover and distribute topics
of interest to younger generations.

.@ColmLearns writes for FuJo on how sports media is using nostalgia to fill the hole left by the lack of live sport during the #COVID19 pandemic. Is it necessarily indulgent or can it help foster a critical view of the past and present?
fujomedia.eu/yesterdays-gam…

"It seems that the biggest social network in the world is, at least in part, basing its response to pandemic-related misinformation on a misreading of the academic literature." wired.com/story/why-is-f…

RT @jamesrbuk Left, tomorrow’s Guardian front page.
Right, tomorrow’s Mail front page.
They’re both write ups of the same study, and they’re both at least sort-of-accurate reflections of it.
No wonder the public is confused. pic.twitter.com/ccVbQ2zxAY